Supersymmetry breaking in M-theory and gaugino condensation

TL;DR

This paper explores supersymmetry breaking in M-theory via gaugino condensation, linking it to Scherk-Schwarz compactification, and predicts a hierarchy of soft masses with heavy scalars and lighter gauginos.

Contribution

It introduces a novel description of supersymmetry breaking in M-theory through an analogy with Scherk-Schwarz compactification, connecting it to gaugino condensation.

Findings

Supersymmetry breaking occurs at an intermediate scale around 10^{12} GeV.

A hierarchy of soft masses is predicted, with scalars much heavier than gauginos.

The model links the M-theory scale to gauge coupling unification.

Abstract

We argue that supersymmetry breaking by gaugino condensation in the strongly coupled heterotic string can be described by an analogue of Scherk-Schwarz compactification on the eleventh dimension in M-theory. The M-theory scale is identified with the gauge coupling unification mass, whereas the radius of the eleventh dimension $\rho$ is at an intermediate scale $\rho^{-1}\sim 10^{12}$ GeV. At the lowest order, supersymmetry is broken only in the gravitational and moduli sector at a scale $m_{3/2}\sim\rho^{-1}$, while it is mediated by gravitational interactions to the observable world. Computation of the mass splittings yields in general a hierarchy of soft masses at the TeV scale $(\sim\rho^{-2}/M_p)$ with matter scalars much heavier than gauginos.